Life Sciences Salary Guide

DOWNLOAD NOW

Your San Diego medtech and medical device recruitment team

Hiring medical device talent in San Diego means competing with Dexcom, ResMed and Tandem Diabetes Care in the city and ATEC Spine in Carlsbad for the same people. Our San Diego medical device recruiters, who also cover Carlsbad and North County, go after the ones those companies work hardest to keep — engineers, quality and regulatory specialists and device sales reps who are not looking. Connected-device and diabetes-tech experience is common here; senior quality and regulatory leaders who have run an FDA submission are not, and that is where our searches focus.

What our San Diego medical device recruiters place

  • Medical device sales — territory and specialty reps through to regional and national sales leadership.
  • Quality and regulatory — QA and RA managers, design control, verification and validation, 510(k) and PMA submissions.
  • R&D and design — mechanical, electrical, embedded and connected-device software engineering.
  • Manufacturing and operations — process and validation engineering, supply chain, plant leadership.
  • Executive search — first leadership hires for start-ups, through to VP and C-level.

Medtech and medical device executive search in San Diego

Bring us the search that has stalled. We approach passive candidates across San Diego County and the rest of Southern California, know which local employers people are open to leaving, and run the process end to end, from first call through competing offers to the start date.

Part of Surf Search’s medtech and medical device recruiting practice.

2026 salary guide

Budget for your next San Diego hire

Compare the guide’s low, median and high salary figures before setting your hiring budget.

San Diego · Medical devices · 2026
RoleLowMedianHigh
Clinical Engineer, Medical Devices$95,000$148,000$206,000
Clinical Specialist, Medical Devices$92,000$142,000$201,000
Manufacturing Engineer, Medical Devices$90,000$126,000$168,000
Medical Device Sales Representative$75,000$129,000$201,000
Product Manager, Medical Devices$137,000$164,000$206,000
Quality Engineer, Medical Devices$100,000$136,000$172,000
What salary figures can we use to budget for a San Diego hire?

Surf Search’s 2026 guide publishes these median annual salary figures for San Diego: Medical Device Sales Representative: $129,000; Quality Engineer, Medical Devices: $136,000. Compare the low and high figures in the tables above as well. The roles represent different responsibilities and levels, so use the matching role as a starting point and discuss your particular assignment with our team.

Source: Surf Search Life Sciences 2026 Salary Guide. Published annual salary figures; individual offers depend on the role, experience and compensation package.

Download the full 2026 guide

Talk to a recruiter about your hiring plans

Searches we have filled

Director of Engineering · San Diego · Medical devices

Hiring an engineering leader, then building the team

Challenge: A medical device start-up and longtime client needed a Director of Engineering with neurovascular device experience. The person had to build a team from the ground up, fit a fast-paced culture and stay hands-on while setting direction. Requiring both large- and small-company experience narrowed an already small local pool.

Solution: We worked our network of former clients and candidates. A hiring manager we had worked with before referred us to the eventual hire. We stayed with the search as the client reviewed candidates and sharpened its must-haves.

Timeline: Three months to shortlist; five months to hire. The role's complexity and the client's review of a broad range of candidates extended the search.

Result: After placing the director, we helped build the engineering team across R&D, quality and manufacturing.

Our Clients

We work with clients and candidates at companies like these

Typical roles we fill

For hard-to-fill medtech and medical device jobs, Surf Search beats all

Jan and Debbie at Surf Search are detail-oriented recruiters and a pleasure to work with. They consistently produce great results for us and provide candidates of the highest integrity. Aside from that, I find them both to be very personable. I enjoy working with Surf Search on all our tough-to-fill jobs.

- Chris K, TA Manager, Global Medical Devices Leader

Partner with Surf Search

FAQ

Frequently asked questions
about San Diego medtech and medical device recruiting

Why should I use a medtech/medical device recruiting specialist in San Diego?

Recruiter specialization in the medical industry exponentially increases your ability to target the best talent for your company. Surf Search has a deep database of medical device candidates working at companies around the country. We develop strong career relationships with candidates in the industry and know what they are looking for in a new job in San Diego.

Explain your recruiting process, from receiving the initial job order to onboarding a new hire. What can we expect?

Surf Search will collaborate with your San Diego recruitment team to ensure a compelling narrative is constructed to promote both the job and your company effectively. We will assist in refining your job descriptions for clarity and appeal. The outlining of benefits, company culture, and career growth opportunities should be transparent and enticing. Additionally, we will ensure the interview process is concise and effective. Subsequently, Surf Search will introduce three to eight suitable San Diego candidates for each role within a span of one to two weeks. We will facilitate setting up interviews, follow-ups with the candidates and the hiring teams, perform reference checks when necessary, and negotiate the job offer when the moment arrives. We maintain ongoing communication with the hiring manager and the new recruit to guarantee successful onboarding and confirm that the candidate is flourishing in their new role.

Which medtech/medical device roles does Surf Search fill in San Diego?

Surf Search excels in filling vital roles in R&D, manufacturing, operations, HR, financial, and top leadership positions within medtech/medical device companies. Leveraging more than two decades of recruiting experience in the medical device sector, we possess a comprehensive database of San Diego candidates, in addition to a robust network of potential candidates with whom we maintain regular communication.

What does your candidate sourcing strategy look like for recruiting candidates in medtech/medical devices?

We work on medtech/medical device positions with companies across the country and in San Diego, and partner with other top recruiting firms who also specialize in our industry. This dramatically increases our reach. Networking is our bread and butter.

What differentiates Surf Search as life science recruiters from all the others in San Diego?

We are a specialized recruitment firm with a concentrated focus on medical device companies. Our extensive tenure in the headhunting business within San Diego has earned us an excellent reputation among our clients and candidates. Many of our clients have remained loyal to us through various company transitions and have continued to rely on our services as they ascend in their own careers. In the realm of medical device company recruitment, your effectiveness is determined by the extent of your connections, and our recruitment network in San Diego is substantial. If a group of a dozen headhunters were given the same medical device search task, Surf Search would invariably emerge as the leader. Our understanding and wealth of experience in medical device recruitment set us apart in headhunting circles across the U.S.

Our medtech and medical device recruiters in other cities

Who is Surf Search?

We are a life sciences recruiting firm specializing in biotech, healthcare, hospital, medical devices, pharmaceutical, physician and science roles across the U.S. We have a deep understanding of our industries, as well as industry and location specific recruiting challenges. We embrace those challenges and break through recruiting roadblocks.

Our locations

Contact us

© surfsearch.org All rights reserved. Recruitment Site Design by Talent Hero Media | Privacy Policy | Find us on RecruiterRank